13 minute read
Industry Voices
MCV/DEVELOP gives the industry a platform for its own views in its own words. Do you have a burning hot take for the world of games? Get in touch!
Small Worlds: Changing the art pipeline
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Kelly Vero, SO REAL Digital Twins
TRYING TO push the boundaries of what we can achieve in technology is something that we’re really proud of in the games industry. For studios who wish to develop MMO, VR/ AR games or esports big-ticket items: a great deal of production needs to take place. Where to place it, how it looks in 360, how it’s lit. Will it sell? The need to establish creative quickly was and still is a driver, or let’s face it, games would be made with programming art! Performance relies upon concepts before development. The longer we spend on the creative, the later we release.
Working in different areas of the games industry over the last 25 years, I’ve been able to see and witness at first hand the issues and blockers around not just the art teams, but development teams, tools and issues that sometimes block the creative process as a whole. Art asset packs, or model marketplaces have become a go-to solution for speed of development, but once an object is purchased it often needs to be unwrapped, re-textured and everything needs to be re-baked. At SO REAL we wanted to turn this process on its head, as well as keeping the costs down and the quality up. We played with the numbers, and got our Eureka from ‘concept’ to engine process down to as little as three hours by taking out the concept phase. No, really.
Lately, in our studio, we’ve been exploring the possibilities of using machine learning to expertly handle everything from objects to artefacts to lighting. This means that traditional photogrammetry and orthography constraints are greatly reduced because we scan first. The selection of objects is wider and the turnaround from selection to in-engine is faster. But how will that work?
Let’s put it into practice: You need a basket for your medieval RPG. You set your team on concepting it, pulling references together, building sketches before modelling and texturing what might become your most popular static asset. Shove it in the game engine, and watch it obediently sit in your level design and environment set dressing. That’s a few man-hours/days of work for your team. Will you outsource it? You need to drive sales up and costs down. Outsourcing is a cheaper option and a sometimes-faster alternative but what about the quality? An industry that demands speed needs solutions, so we set about making them.
Let’s look at the medieval RPG example again: Our machine learning found the basket you described, and we sent a directly executable twin to your engine. It’s fully optimised for physics and your player can knock it around. They can even look inside it. I mean, properly, not just painted with apples! It can be smashed to pieces (and the apples too)! Oh, and it also costs much less than a few man-hours/days of work for you and your team because we twinned it in less than three hours.
You know you’ve gotta make development easier for yourselves and your players. We’ve gotta make it easier for you. By listening to the present, together we’re helping to inform the future of game dev. We’re driving your creative by directing our technology to push your boundaries further and faster.
Kelly Vero is SO REAL’s games evangelist, working with dev teams who use SO REAL’s unique digital twin technology to push their games to the bleeding edge of XR.
It’s tough out there, but the code must get through
Paul Stone, Indigo Pearl
AT A time where we are confined to our personal spaces and many of us challenge the concept of our regular workday by assimilating work life with the usual creature comforts of home. It has been our cloud-based technologies that have unquestionably kept many of us together.
Over the past month, we’ve recreationally basked in exotic Netflix documentaries that allowed for those ‘watercooler moments’ online, downloaded video games directly from virtual stores in favour of physical copies and taken part in video calls to stay connected with friends and family.
Workwise, this technology has allowed us to effectively maintain communication with our teams through virtual meetings and utilise cloud-based programmes to allow individuals to collectively contribute to a project remotely.
Whatever our direct situation may be, we continue to be passionate about sharing content and helping others even whilst apart. This is something many Animal Crossing players can attest to. No one is an island, even if they are the acting island representative for Tom Nook.
At Indigo Pearl, we have been looking at how we can improve the ways in which we share digital content within our asset management team. Over the past five years it’s been part of my responsibility to oversee various code distribution campaigns through to completion via DXN (Digital Xtranet) - our code distribution platform that was introduced into the games industry in 2015.
Originally, this tool delivered codes and review material directly into the hands of media en masse, giving press everything needed to ready reviews for a title launch worldwide. Recently however, the tool has reacted responsively for the benefit of individuals.
Developers who were unable to attend UK games festivals this year were offered a way to have review code and press kit information sent directly to would-be attending media. We also implemented review request functionality through our PXN sites, to offer additional ways in which PR managers, press and influencers are able to reach out to each other.
Now, as two of our separate platforms begin to further communicate, press of varying sizes can come to one place to request review code, download assets and provide links to coverage. All whilst encouraging future conversations between reviewers and publishers alike and making it possible for the PR manager to track and approve code requests within one area.
Ultimately, our collective ability to innovate our daily processes across digital sharing platforms has altered our outlook on the way we exist within virtual and physical spaces. Reflecting on what is important and what should change structurally and inwardly. Many would agree that losing precious hours to the daily commute is undesirable. However, providing support, sharing stories and finding new ways to connect as individuals and professionals within the games industry at home and in person is as important now as it ever was.
Paul Stone is responsible for massive digital review mailouts using the DXN delivery system – the tech that was responsible for sending out codes for Death Stranding, Predator: Hunting Grounds, Dreams, Streets of Rage 4 and many more.
In times of crisis we must invest in the future (of games)
Tony Pearce, Reality Gaming Group
THE CORONAVIRUS is with us and countries around the world, including the UK, are in various stages of lockdown.
Clearly, all business owners must continue to monitor the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on their employees as decisions may need to be made quickly to take account of what is still a fast-changing situation.
As games publishers, we also have responsibilities towards our wider gamer community who, aside from having to come to terms with what appears to be our new reality for the foreseeable future, will also be turning to games as a form of comfort.
My hope is that games - and mobile games especially – can provide people with some kind of normality, and safe social entertainment, at a time when all notions of what constitutes ‘normal’ have been thrown out of the window.
But what of the wider industry? The top line numbers are extremely encouraging, with analysts at App Annie announcing with some fanfare that mobile game installs hit a record 1.2bn for the week commencing March 22nd. That’s an incredible number (up 30% on previous months) that will no doubt push higher as lockdown boredom compels people to browse their app stores to ever deeper levels.
This positive landscape should also be viewed as a huge fillip for the investment community, which will be crucial for the continued growth of games development and publishing, especially on the indie scene.
At Reality Gaming Group, we’ve just closed a funding round led by the forward-thinking Velocity Capital Partners, but we’re not the only ones. Recent weeks have seen Starberry raise €1.3m, Lightheart Entertainment €1.3m and Roto VR £1.5m. In addition, Hamburg Prototype Funding is offering €400k a year for games projects, while the South Australia Games Innovations Fund is putting up its second round.
Be in no doubt that some of these recent raises, including ours, were complicated by the coronavirus outbreak. But what these deals show is that even in the deepest of international crises, creativity, smart companies and an unerring ability to entertain the masses means the games industry offers a beacon of hope in the current darkness.
I haven’t even mentioned esports which, as things stand, is the only professional sport still operating. The potential for that sector to introduce competitive gaming to new audiences is huge.
In our own small way, we’ve made changes to our game (an AR combat title that uses location services) so that it works within the confines of a player’s home, while simultaneously sharing messages encouraging players not to venture outdoors to play the game while the lockdown is in effect.
It’s crucial that we continue to foster this kind of environment within the games community as we work through the coming weeks and months.
Going back to the stats, it’s interesting to look at the types of mobile games being downloaded too, with people seeking out multiplayer titles to fill the social void that’s suddenly in their lives. Games for good, once again helping people through lockdown.
It’s not just mobile though, with PC games platform Steam announcing a COVID-19 powered record user peak in excess of 23 million in lateMarch. Again, multiplayer was to the fore, with CS:GO breaking the one million concurrent player mark for the second time in as many weeks.
And looking at the overall, Nielsen is reporting that 20% of gamers in the US are playing online with their friends more because of coronavirus.
Combine these user trends with industry initiatives that have seen publishers inject ‘Stay Home. Save Lives’ messaging into their titles and it’s clear that games are front and centre in the digital home entertainment fightback against coronavirus, alongside our peers at Netflix, Amazon Prime and Spotify.
But we need to ensure we’re ready to open our arms and minds to the new possibilities this situation will create.
We clearly have some major challenges ahead, both as a society and an industry, but the games industry is also in a great position to be a force for continuity and good at a time of great uncertainty, whether you’re a player, developer, publisher or investor.
Tony Pearce is co-founder of the Reality Gaming Group, creators of Reality Clash, an AR combat game. Pearce has over 30 years of industry experience, working across numerous console generations and mobile.
Swift Studio Spotlight: Coatsink
Coatsink may have been named after a joke, but the studio is serious stuff, packed with almost 100 talented developers who have managed to bring some big names into their titles
Above: Coatsink and High Tea Frog’s upcoming party game Cake Bash
Below: Jack Sanderson from Coatsink
WITH a history steeped in VR, PC, console, and mobile development, Coatsink is heading into one of its most exciting years yet, with a plethora of new titles on their roster, including the recently released Get Packed, and the upcoming launches of PHOGS! and Cake Bash.
Originally founded in 2009, this Sunderland-based studio has matured into an inspiring development house, fuelled by innovation and a wicked sense of humour.
They’re predominantly a developer, with codevelopment and publishing arms to augment what they can offer. But how did two Teesside University students found such a fantastic studio, and how have they had to alter their marketing plans for their upcoming titles amidst current conditions?
James Bowers from Aardvark Swift spoke with Jack Sanderson, the PR and Events Manager for Coatsink, to take a better look at those questions.
“Our co-founders [Tom Beardsmore and Paul Crabb] have been friends since secondary school. The name came from their form tutor and technology teacher, Mr Coates. In the teenage minds of Tom and Paul, Coates was this kind of evil supervillain. They ended up creating various stories and fictional anecdotes about Coates, part of which involved his secret evil organisation: ‘Coates Inc.’
“Later in life, when Tom and Paul began thinking of starting a game dev company together, they jokingly decided to call it ‘Coatsink’ as a nod to their adolescent imaginations back at school. At the time they assumed the venture wouldn’t last very long and didn’t think they’d be here over 10 years later, explaining why their 100-person studio has such a daft name.”
Sanderson has been with the company for almost four years, originally starting as their first dedicated marketing hire during the production of Shu, their first self-published game. “I’m a southerner, and I was in a hotel room asking myself what I was doing [before the interview]…but it was a perfect fit really. We’re less of a corporate body and more a group of nerds who like to make fun things.”
You’d be forgiven for thinking that now the studio is a decade old, the co-founders aren’t as hands-on, but you’d be wrong. “Paul is still heavily involved on the development side. Even though he’s one of the cofounders, he’s definitely integral to the development side of projects. When Coatsink first started, we were making a lot of iOS games. Tom did all of the art and marketing. Now, Tom and his brother Ed oversee everything and make sure we’re functioning well as a company.”
Connections made during the early years have really helped Coatsink grow, enabling them to develop games with the newest technology. “Tom befriended and mentored a student in Newcastle, who eventually started working for Oculus. We’ve launched a bunch of games across Oculus devices from Gear VR, Rift, Quest and Go over the years thanks to that. Oculus has been central to the growth of Coatsink, and without them, I don’t think we’d be as big as we are.”
Not only is the growth and impact of the studio impressive, but they’ve also managed to entice some big names to their projects, from Nick Frost to Sir Patrick Stewart. “It took a lot of determination and lead time to get Sir Patrick Stewart. We only had him for a short window. He was an absolute pleasure to work with. When we pitched it to him, he liked the concept of this time-jumping narrative [found in Shadow Point], I think that’s what grabbed him.”
Having such a packed 2020 release schedule has forced Coatsink to change tack when it comes to marketing, with the postponement or cancellation of a number of industry events. “It’s an easy win to get a lot of people in front of your game and to a collective of the press. We’re having to think digitally and find other ways to engage with people. It’s actually allowed me to spend more time with media and content creators [than I would have had otherwise]. I’m still really excited about the releases we have coming up. The community shouting about PHOGS!, Cake Bash and Get Packed has been great!”
You’ll be able to listen to the full conversation with Jack Sanderson of Coatsink in an upcoming episode of the Aardvark Swift Podcast, available now via Apple Podcasts, Spotify, third party apps and the Aswift.com website!
